A Luce Affiliation

This year my job involves seven 13-hour shifts in a row, followed by about six days off.  Followed by seven 13-hour nights shifts, followed by about six days off, ad infinitum.  So it's probably not hard to imagine that by working day 7, the wheels have started to fall off. Last week on Day 7, my resident and I had a long conversation about how medicine is an absurd profession.    There are so many other fulfilling, worthwhile jobs that don't require basically constant study for over a decade plus horrendous working hours. I was reminiscing about my year 10 aptitude test that suggested I should become an economist or an art critic.  At the time I thought they were  terrible  suggestions but now I marvel at how much I'd love those jobs.  My resident was keen on events planning or floristry.  At one point I realised that the medical student  thought we were joking .  I wheeled around to her, "You think this is a joke?!? It's NOT TOO LATE FOR YOU!!"

1. Sunday DIY Proper winter again today. We walked to the hardware store to get some wood to hang our awesome canvas throw/picture: It was so sunny on the way there, then on the way back it TURNED!  Windy horrible rain in the face, running down Wellington street with a 3 metre picture rail. You can't turn corners very quickly with a 3 metre picture rail.  2. Walking, not sitting.  If I'd been asked ten years ago what I'd look would look for in a job, I don't think I would have asked for a job that requires standing and walking around. But now I realise that THIS IS AMAZING! My job requires standing and walking for at least a third of the day.  imagine if I'd gone into academia or, in fact, most other jobs, I would be sitting down all the time. I think I would struggle to solve problems if I had to sit down to them.  I like walking around the ICU, mulling over something tangentially, to reach a solution.  But perhaps this is a cognitive weakness too.